Standing Out On LinkedIn Starts With Knowing Your Unique Value Proposition

&

•  Consultant’s Top Challenges & Needs

•  My Story

•  A Personal Brand Framework

•  LinkedIn Profile Summary Examples

•  Now You Try

Agenda

Consultants Top Challenges & Needs

Biggest Challenge – Transitional Periods •  “The unknown of being in between projects. Getting new work or renegotiating existing work.“

Source: Taken from the end of year 2014 EM Consultant Feedback Summary Report.

Needs / Aspirations – A Differentiated Personal Brand

•  “I’d like support with my personal brand. It’s a great way to tell your story.”

•  “I want to have a key differentiator. It would help me in the interview process to get more work.”

•  “I’d like to communicate my own uniqueness and strengths – why choose me over someone else?”

•  “I’d like to communicate the value of what I do.”

Engineering

Study Abroad

Thesis

Programming

Start-Up

Travel Abroad

Soulful Brand & EM Marketing

Start Up

Rigoli Coaching & Consulting

That Little Intuitive Voice

Other Voices

Corporate

Changing Your Center of Gravity

“Don’t be better. Just be Different.” ~Steve Jobs

“Just be Yourself.”

•  “Differentiate yourself in a remarkable and memorable way.” •  “A short version of why you do what you do.” •  “Be authentic – what you do is also who you are.”

~ Personal Branding Articles on LinkedIn)

•  “Describe what motivates you and how it shows up in your work.” •  “Don’t use buzz words.” •  “Add your volunteer experience to show more of who you are.”

~ Catherine Fisher (Director Corp Communications, LinkedIn)

•  “Differentiate yourself in a remarkable and memorable way.” •  “A short version of why you do what you do.” •  “Be authentic – what you do is also who you are.”

~ Personal Branding Articles on LinkedIn

What’s Most Important

INSPIRATION

GROUNDING WHO you work with (industry, challenges, needs, aspirations)

WHY you care about what you do (note: a deeper dive on next page)

Your Unique Value Proposition consists of knowing…

WHAT you offer (service + results / impact)

HOW you achieve results for others (talents, skills, approaches)

A Deeper Dive On the “Why” – Consider including one or more

NOTE: PASSIONS can also be considered part of the WHY, which may be connected more to personal hobbies/endeavors.

For a more detailed read on the power of your WHY: click here

Examples of Talents •  Bringing order to chaos (In a process vacuum, I’ll create one) •  Helping people’s voices to be heard •  Inspiring new creations •  Connecting the dots and seeing the forest from the trees

Examples of Skills •  Marketing strategy •  User acquisition •  Copywriting •  Customer Research •  Project management

A Deeper Dive on the “How” – Talents vs. Skills

WHO I work with:

HOW I work: WHY I care:

WHAT I offer + results:

INSPIRATION

GROUNDING Entrepreneurs and business leaders unclear about their uniqueness & message

Uncovering the uniqueness and deeper wisdom within people and organizations (using brand strategy, research, & coaching skills)

To deepen connection in the workplace and the marketplace

(stand – ”resonance with others starts with resonance in ourselves”)

Ryan’s Unique Value Proposition…

Clear brand + authentic communications that build deeper trust with their audience

LinkedIn Profile Summary Examples

WHAT A. SERVICE “marketing communications projects.” “produce polished documents of all

sorts from web content to thought leadership articles.”

WHY B. STORY

“after dipping my toes in almost every type of writing imaginable…”

WHO C. AUDIENCE PROFILE

“technology and education companies.” “my favorite clients let me help them and also teach me something in the process.”

B.

A.

C.

WHAT E. RESULTS

“I work with clients to ensure their campaigns read well and get results.”

HOW D. TALENTS & APPROACH “Where I excel is customer facing

communication.” “It’s fun to be behind the scenes,

deciding what customers learn, discussing strategy, and then creating something awesome.”

WHY F. PASSIONS

“a weakness for vintage cars and love geeking out at antique auto shows.”

D. E.

F.

A.

B.

C.

WHY A.  VISION

“to build products that people love.”

STAND “I believe the most successful technologies come from building relationships that bridge human needs with engineering innovation – putting technology to use ‘for’ people. This is as much art as it is engineering.”

HOW C. TALENTS “strive to understand who my users

are and how they feel.” “an entrepreneur at heart”

WHAT B. SERVICE “a full-stack developer, software

architect and product manager.”

Case Study #3

A. WHAT A. RESULTS “created a multi-million dollar company

with 10 distinct online communities, Fortune 50 clients, hundreds of editorial contributors, 1.5 million page views per month, and a #2 Google ranking for “social media.” (below only Wikipedia)

B.

HOW B. TALENTS & SKILLS

“worn many hats in my career – “I am a multi-linguist of technology-driven business. I speak fluent geek, marketer, editors, designer, trainer, salesperson, and difficult client.” “If my left and right brain were hands, I’d be ambidextrous.”

A. WHY A. STORY

“started my first business when I was 15 years old going up against the local bike shop in town.” STAND “From that failure I learned that funding, marketing and presence do matter.” STAND “I’ve learned that tenacity, creativity, enthusiasm, technology adoption, and total love for your customer all make for a powerful competitive advantage.”

Exercises to Uncover Your Unique Value

Proposition

INSPIRATION

GROUNDING WHO you work with (industry, challenges, needs, aspirations)

WHY you care about what you do (story highlights, stands, vision)

Now You Give It a Try

WHAT you offer (service + results)

HOW you achieve results for others (talents, skills, approaches)

Directions

Finish the statements on the each of the following slides to help you develop your unique value proposition. What you come up with can serve as a foundation to help you write your LinkedIn profile summary.

Question #1 – (Why) STANDS / CORE BELIEFS

•  One of the biggest learnings I’ve had in my career is <…>.

•  Because of that experience I now believe strongly that <…>. •  If I were to write a blog article in my area of expertise, the

theme would be <…> and the knowledge / wisdom I would want to impart to my audience would be <…>.

Question #2 – (Why) ASPIRATIONS / VISION

•  When I look back at the end of my career, my biggest hope is that I would have helped to <…>.

•  My hope is that I would be able to bring the values of <…>

into my work.

Question #3 – (How) TALENTS

•  No matter the job, I have always been able to <…>. •  No matter the job, I have always loved conversations

about <…>.

•  My friends and colleagues have always told me that I’m good at <…>.

Question #4 – (How) SKILLS

•  The most common skill/s I use at work are <…>.

•  My top 1 – 2 skills are <…>.

Question #5 – (Who) AUDIENCE

•  The kinds of challenges I gravitate towards most in a company (or project) are <…>.

•  I like helping teams that aspire to <…>.

•  I work with companies that <industry / product categories>.

Question #6 – (What) SERVICE

•  If I were to boil it all down, the main service that I provide is <…>.

Question #7 – (What) RESULTS

•  I’m most proud of the work I did at <…> where the results were <…>.

•  The most common results I see when I work with clients are

<…>.

Question #8 – Overall PASSIONS

•  If I were to go to the bookstore, the sections that I would naturally gravitate towards are <…>.

•  The types of conversations that I love having the most are

<…>.

•  I lose track of time most when I’m <…>.

I provide <services / type of work you do> (WHAT) to <type of organizations / industries> (WHO) that <challenges / aspirations>. (WHO) After many years in marketing, I believe that <stand>. (WHY) which informs how I <…> My sweet spot OR My specialty is <…> (HOW) My clients report seeing <common results>. (WHAT). Some examples include <…> My core skills are <…> (HOW) I have a natural passion for <…> (Adds a personal touch)

One (of many) templates to help kick-start a profile

My Contact Info

For Customer Research, Brand Strategy / Market Positioning Inquiries for Organizations ryan@e-m-marketing.com For Personal Branding Inquiries for Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders ryan@soulfulbrand.com